Despite starting his new role as superintendent of Hamilton County Schools amid the omicron surge in COVID-19 cases and the accompanying complexities of keeping the school system running despite staffing issues, Dr. Justin Robertson said his transition into the job has been relatively smooth.
Robertson – who has been with the school district since 2008, most recently serving as its director of operations – was selected by the Hamilton County Board of Education to serve as superintendent by a 7-2 vote in December over two other candidates found through a nationwide search.
“I think he has hit the ground running, like we all kind of expected him to,” said school board chair Tucker McClendon of East Ridge. “We’ve had a challenging month with COVID and whatnot, but he went in and has done the job that we all thought he would do when we voted for him.”
Robertson said he’s a firm believer in the district’s strategic plan, Future Ready 2023, and intends to see that through in its final year and a half. At the same time, beginning this spring, he will lead the district in developing a new strategic plan as well.
Starting as superintendent in the middle of the year presents certain challenges, he said, including being thrown into the budgeting process in the next few weeks. That process will include some “organizational adjustments” that will be made public during his State of the System address later this month, he said.